Round Table Meeting With State Officials Addresses FFH Concerns

By Kendra Bobowick

Fred Hurley sent a brief  letter this week to the Board of Selectmen stating in part “There is a meeting Wednesday, September 3, with the [Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection] and the DPH [Connecticut Department of Public Health] regarding all the work at Fairfield Hills.”

Fairfield Hills Authority Chairman Bob Geckle received a copy, which in turn generated an e-mail to the first selectman’s office late Tuesday evening.

“I am perplexed and surprised over this situation … we have been working on this since at least last spring and cannot understand how it has now come to light that we need other agency approvals…”

Mr Hurley only hinted at the meeting’s purpose.

“There was a charge that soil piled around Greenwich House was contaminated after Bridgewater House demolition,” he said.

 “Wrong,” he concluded.

After conversations among Mr Hurley, DEP representative Ross Bunnell, and Bill Stapleton of the state health department, Mr Hurley said, “It was clear last week that [the state] didn’t have all the information and the assertions made to them were not correct.”

Mr Hurley called for the meeting because the state did not have full documentation.

Wednesday’s meeting aimed to get all pertinent parties together to make sure information is being shared, which “wasn’t happening,” Mr Hurley explained. “So, if people don’t wish Fairfield Hills luck they get in touch with the state…”

Without information on hand, the state was bound to follow up. But was the state here to stop projects?

Mr Hurley explained, “It’s not a case of problems. They needed to be brought up to speed.” The only problem was poor communication, he said.

“There are a lot of players and the DEP and public health department were not sure who to deal with. It’s clear now.”

 No projects are jeopardized; no work is being halted, Mr Hurley confirmed.

Newtown’s Health District Director Donna Culbert was also at the meeting.

“The meeting was incredibly helpful with all parties in the room,” she said. “The state got answers and everyone had the information and got on the same page.”

One resident who has kept a close eye on remediation work, and who stated that he has 25 years of experience with commercial waste management, did not wish to comment on whether or not he had contacted the DEP. Fred Moran has been attending Fairfield Hills meetings, and said this week he was aware of Wednesday’s meeting.

He had a “professional interest in what’s happening before the town even bought the property,” he said.

Mr Moran has also spoken with town officials, including former First Selectman Herb Rosenthal. Considering his professional experience, he said, “I tried to make recommendations, but was not considered.”

Mr Moran also implied that the town does not comply “when it comes to environmental issues.”

Mr Moran, who has suggested that environmental work had not been thorough during Mr Rosenthal’s tenure, is the most recent example of strong lines dividing residents and officials regarding Fairfield Hills.

Mr Moran suggests that the town hire a consultant to oversee environmental abatement, to be certain that aspect of work on campus is done correctly and in compliance with the law. He also had heard that “there were problems” with work at the former state hospital and that the DEP and state health department had become involved.

“When these agencies get involved, they start asking questions,” Mr Moran warned. Accusing officials of “backdoor politics,” he said, “I think people want compliance.” To the Fairfield Hills Authority, he suggested, “Take a step back and look at the money and what you need to do.”

His prediction considering Wednesday’s meeting was grim. “It’s going to blow up in the next week or two,” Mr Moran said.

Ross Bunnell, a sanitary engineer with the DEP’s Waste Engineering and Enforcement Division, was at Wednesday’s meeting. He confirmed that the state has received communications and information from Newtown anonymously, and that the state did not have “all the information” regarding remediation.

Mr Bunnell said he needed to be sure that licensed inspections, licensed abatement removal, and appropriate separation and disposal of hazardous materials took place. As far as the health department’s role, he said that there are questions about whether or not Newtown submitted paperwork.

Mr Bunnell could not say with certainty that the state received the proper notifications for work at the former state hospital campus.

The number of hands involved was part of the reason for the meeting, he noted.

“Get them all in one room and on the same page,” he said. Knowing that Fairfield Hills reuse plans are a divisive subject in town, Mr Bunnell said nothing stood out necessarily to stop the project. He did not have enough information to make a statement one way or another, but the DEP’s interest is piqued.

“If we didn’t have concerns, we wouldn’t have gone out, but in large part it was due to a lack of information and we got that,” he said.

While Mr Bunnell has no indication that anything was done improperly, he said, “I have a lot of documents to review.” He will be writing a summary letter to town officials outlining the state’s concerns, he said, and hoped to have that letter drafted by Thursday afternoon.

“It’s early in the process,” he said, but agreed that “we need to sit down and straighten out any issues.”